The word revelation in Greek is apocalypse. Apocalypse means to remove the veil. This veil being removed is the veil going into the holy of holies. So when we have a revelation, we have an apocalypse and a veil is removed so that we can see something we have never seen before.
This veil being removed in us is the veil into the Holy of Holies and means we are beginning to see the glory of God (2 Cor 3:18). It is the removal of our flesh (Heb 10:20), or the process of the circumcision of our heart (Mat 13:13-15). A covenant was made with Abraham that those who receive a removal of the flesh over their hearts will be considered to be his seed. Through this process we become the “true Jew” (Rom 2:29), the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29), and most importantly Christ’s.
In considering this, you can see that the book of Revelations means that God is going to take the veil off of scripture at the end of the age and show us new things that have never been seen before. He is going to show us what the scripture is really saying.
This means that at the end of the age, there will be a remnant of people that will see what is happening who will say to the Lord,
“I repent for my carnal understanding of the Word of God, and Lord, get me ready…let me see what scripture is really saying.”
So, we see that the apocalypse has nothing to do with the end of the world, but speaks of a removal of the veil over scripture and the end of our carnal understanding of scripture. That must mean that all of the seals, all of the plagues, and all of the opening of the vials in the book of Revelations has to do with the church. The Lord is talking to the body of Christ to see who wants to get rid of the flesh, giving them one last chance.
In Matthew 17, Jesus says that Elijah will come and restore all things, future tense. The early church and the Jews taught that Elijah has to come to prepare everyone for the coming of the Messiah. Elijah is not coming to get the world ready, he is coming to get a remnant in the church ready to come and bring in the final harvest. So, the whole Book of Revelations is not a message about plagues and vials being opened to bring the world to repentance, but really a message to the body of Christ. How can the world understand the apocalypse when the world is veiled? How can the world understand the apocalypse when it does not have the Holy Spirit of God? You cannot understand what is behind the veil until the Holy Spirit reveals what is going on. Don’t you know that you are the temple (1Cor 3:16) and so the veil going into the Holy of Holies (and the veil over the glory of God) is in you? The only people allowed behind the veil are the high priests, which in the New Testament are the apostles. So who are you learning from?
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.